RFD-TV

Sexual Harassment, An Overall Toxic Work Environment

Typical news experience as an on-camera female. Rarely called into the news director’s office but, if ever, comments on looking pretty, “I don’t like that dress on you,” etc. we’re always made in every meeting.

Patrick Gottsch owns RFD-TV. He lives in Omaha but the station is located in Nashville. You rarely see him, but he makes irrational, crazy decisions via phone calls (usually screaming at the top of his lungs for no reason). The news director there when I got hired, Gary Kanofsky, was never there. Lived in NYC and flew in on occasion. Totally disconnected from the broadcasts and only wanted to sit around and talk about his glory days (which are lies, by the way) while we should have been working on making the newscasts better. The current news director, Katie Farritor, is an awful human being, not a good producer, and threw multiple people under the bus to get promoted with lies. She told management people that on-air talent like me, and a couple great producers and editors, said bad things about the company in public. We know the business and “play the game” and would never say bad things in front of people like her, knowing she would do something like that. Well, she did and they believed her. Up she went in the company, and ALL of us she lied about were let go within a few months - if not as a direct result of her lies. (So NOW I don’t mind posting this in public). I personally was let go when Verizon dropped this so-called rural network and they let go of 40% of employees. In my “you’re being let go” meeting, they actually told me “non-farm” people were being let go. This was insulting because we researched and did our jobs as journalists do, learning about farming and rural America inside-out for the job, but Patrick Gottsch and his daughter, Raquel (just as awful) truly discriminate against “non-farm” people. Who would have thought that’s a thing? At RFD-TV, it is.
Best thing that happened to me was being let go. Life moves on and I laugh with fellow co-workers I have stayed in touch with about RFD-TV now (“we actually worked there?!”) but I wanted to be sure to warn others in case they’re considering working there. Especially now that Katie Farritor is News Director. If you’re a true journalist, don’t be tempted when they tell you it’s a “network” job. It’s not an actual news network. And the company is so far in debt, it’s only a matter of time for them to completely fold. Stay in local news. Even the worst issues of local news stations are no match for the craziness of RFD-TV.